Classic Doctor Who - Season 4 - The Power Of The Daleks (1966) - Review

Starring: Patrick Troughton, Anneke Wills, Michael Craze & Robert James

Written By: David Whitaker

Directed By: Christopher Barry

 

1966 was a huge turning point for Doctor Who and saw many firsts for the show. Not only did it see the first appearance of the Cybermen, but it also marked the point where the show took arguably its biggest risk – changing the lead actor. Owing to poor health and multiple changes to the show, William Hartnell left the role of the Doctor, handing the keys to the TARDIS over to Patrick Troughton. The Power Of The Daleks, missing from the BBC archives, but now restored in animated form, would decide whether or not the show could survive such a massive change.

 

Ben, Polly and a newly-regenerated Doctor arrive on the planet Vulcan, home to an Earth colony. Posing as an Earth Examiner, the Doctor discovers that the scientists of the colony have discovered an inert space capsule. Inside are a group of inert Daleks, which despite the Doctor's warnings, the scientist Lesterson hopes to reactivate. When awoken, the Daleks give themselves as servants to the colony, but the Doctor knows they'll have their own agenda... 

 

The main thing that makes this particular story so significant in the Doctor Who mythos, is that this is the first time we get to see Patrick Troughton's Doctor and see just how different he is to his predecessor. The concept of regeneration, or renewal as it was known at the time, was probably the most understated yet important additions to the show, as it essentially gave the BBC a sustainable show – as proven by the fact that it's now been running for over fifty years. Without the decision to give us an entirely different Doctor, rather than just make somebody up to look like William Hartnell, it's very unlikely we'd still be talking about the show today. It helps that Patrick Troughton also makes an impressive debut as the Doctor, even more so given that the writing sometimes ends up letting him down (something I'll talk more about later). The highlight of his performance takes place when he's confronted by the Daleks for the first time. The Doctor is clearly terrified of their presence, and is in fear of the moment that they turn against the colonists, and knows just what they're capable of: “Yes, it will end the colony's problems – because it will end the colony!”.

 

To ease such a huge change in the series, the production team made the very smart move of giving the audience plenty of familiar faces to ease the transition. Not only do we have Ben and Polly as familiar faces, we also have the return of the Daleks. Now given the huge amount that David Whitaker's script had to do to ensure the survival of the series, it can be understood and even forgiven if the Daleks were left on the back-burner in this story. But admirably, it's the exact opposite and the Daleks are very, very well-used here. Just seeing the Daleks acting as servants to humans is unsettling, and for its time, it was a strikingly original idea. I can imagine it would have also made for a refreshing change to see the Daleks doing something other than shouting “Exterminate” and unleashing invasions all the time. While we spend the first four parts on the edge of our seat, waiting to see when they'll reveal their true nature, the last two parts provide a suitably big and dramatic pay-off, with huge numbers of them (including a whole conveyor belt's worth) going to battle with the humans.

 

The time the Daleks spend acting as servants to our human characters also allows for some interesting ideas about what the Daleks really are. We like to think of Daleks as just pure evil in a tank … mostly because they are, but it's interesting to see their reaction to a civil war among the governors of the colony and the rebels. In one of the best lines of the entire story, one of the Daleks even asks Bragen “Why do humans kill humans?”. If you think about it, both the colonists and the rebels have the same level of hatred towards and bring about just as much death to each other as the Daleks do. To some extent, you could even argue that both sides are as destructive as the Daleks, and that's pretty deep stuff for a programme that, at the time of broadcast, was still primarily aimed at children and younger audiences.

 

Our main cast and villains are helped by a fairly solid supporting cast, but the definite standout among them is Lesterson. Originally, it seems as though Lesterson was written and intended to be an unlikeable character who would cause countless deaths by reactivating the Daleks and going against the Doctor. However, when he starts learning more about and starts to see the Daleks for what the really are, particularly after they start screaming “We shall get our power!”, he tries to put right the mistake he's made. He's the one that convinced the colony that the Daleks were a force for good, and seeing him try to tell them of his mistake, but being written off as mad, is surprisingly tragic. Lesterson was never a malicious or idiotic character, and though he was perhaps a little stubborn, he never wanted to bring about death. All this makes seeing his ultimate fate some really powerful stuff.

 

I mentioned earlier that one of the things that can let The Power Of The Daleks down is the writing style for the new Doctor. It's true that the way the script treats him, particularly early on feels … odd. Now obviously, this is the first post-regeneration story and I understand that there's going to be differences between this and what many of us are more used to, but this transition still feels strange. I can't quite describe it, but it seems odd, even for the new 2nd Doctor to just leave Ben and Polly guessing as to what's happened to him, while he simply goes around playing the recorder. However, none of this is the fault of Patrick Troughton, and the problem does lessen and stabilize as the story goes on. My only other issue with The Power Of The Daleks is more of a production problem. Personally, I'm never entirely convinced that this story is taking place at the heart of a thriving colony. Characters make constant reference to the vast colony they rule, but we never get to see any of it. Again, I understand that Doctor Who had barely any budget to speak of, but something as simple as seeing a backdrop of the colony, similar to how alien worlds have been creating in the past, would have gone a long way in solving this problem.

 

The Power Of The Daleks was one of many 60s TV serials wiped from the BBC Archives, and at the time of writing, has yet to be found. However, in 2016, this story experienced a resurgence in popularity, with animated replacements breathing new life into such an important classic. The animation team brought The Power Of The Daleks to a much wider audience, including myself, and without the animated release, I doubt I'd be writing this review. In the first two episodes, it's clear that when very little is happening on the surviving audio track, the animators aren't sure what to do, given that characters frequently remain static and do nothing for several moments. But again, this problem lessens and becomes less noticeable as time goes on. The animation on the Daleks themselves particularly stands out and looks brilliantly detailed, and while I doubt the animation is going to exactly win any awards, I'm incredibly thankful for the hard work of the animating team, as they successfully recapture the feel of the original story, and as I've already said, they've made the story much more accessible.

 

In conclusion, The Power Of The Daleks lives up to the immense amount it had to get done, whilst proving that the show had a ton of life and untold stories left in it yet. The fact that The Power Of The Daleks ended up being one of the strongest stories of 60s Doctor Who is testament to everyone involved in its production, as so much could so easily have gone wrong. With the promise of a great new Doctor, an incredibly unique and interesting use of the Daleks, as well as some mature themes and ideas, we have a lot to thank this story for...

The Power Of The Daleks
 

8/10